Goldenrod High
by Brian Powell
Summary: Multishipping in high school. Characters featured from the animegames series. What are the shippings you ask? That's for you to guess and find out.
1. Year 1, September

**Goldenrod High (Multishipping PG13) **

**Disclaimer: I would like to report that I do not own the characters from pokemon as they belong to Game Freak, the pokemon company and Nintendo. I also do not own the songs may be used for the fic in future.**

_A/N: What are the ships you ask? That's for you to guess and find out. There may ships that you won't like._

Cue opening song 'Let's Get It Started' by Black Eyed Peas

**Year 1, September**

It was a beautiful day at Goldenrod High. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. Life couldn't be better.

That was unless you count in a pink haired teacher screeching her voice off while running late to her school. "Gah! I hate the first day back!" she yelled to herself as she rushed through the corridors wearing a woolly jumper over her blue jeans carrying some books under her arms.

She quickly rushed into one of the classrooms that had an opened door, and slammed it shut upon entry, scaring and shocking a number of students and pokemon inside as they sat at their desks. The teacher let out a small sigh of relief, thinking that she had more or less made it in time. "Good morning, Class Two, welcome to your first day," she said with a big smile on her face as she walked to the writing board before writing down her name with a marker pen. "My name is Miss Whitney. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."

One of the students raised his hand up. "Uh, Miss Whitney?" he said.

"…That is unless you want to know where babies come from. That will be for another time," the teacher said with a frown before showing a cheeky smile with a slight delight. "Or my bra size, which I wouldn't mind bragging about but…"

"Uh… no, Miss Whitney," the student said nervously. "Class Two is next door. This is Class Three."

Miss Whitney became shocked with embarrassment. She slowly picked up her books and made her way out without saying a word, leaving the students quite baffled.

In the other classroom, the students were having a nice chat with each other, introducing themselves. Some were familiar with each other while others decided to be quiet, not talking to the others. Some of them had their pokemon out. In the school rules, children were allowed up to two pokemon each at their disposal for protection and they were allowed to have their pokemon out during lessons as long as they behaved themselves.

Brendan Birch, son of the famous Professor Birch. He originally lived in Hoenn with his father but he moved here to Johto after he finished mid-school because of the research that was needed to be done here. In his old school, he was the brightest of his class and was seriously hardworking in both schoolwork and athletics. He had silver hair with a black bandanna around his forehead.

Next up was Barry Palmer, who would soon be known to a lot of his schoolmates as the most competitive and hyperactive student… ever. He and Brendan were classmates in their mid-school days so they were no strangers to one another and, in Brendan's view, they have a give-take relationship: Brendan gives and Barry takes. In appearance, along with the other boys in class, he was wearing his schoolboy uniform, which consisted of buttoned white short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, along with bushy blond hair.

"Jeez, Barry," Brendan moaned as he had his desk next to him. "Of all schools your parents could've picked, they picked this one."

"Hey, man, it's not my fault," Barry responded, feeling almost as though he was being accused. "My dad got a job as one of the Elite Four guys here. But hey, look on the bright side; someone you know is here. Think about it, it'll be like old times! We're going to play pranks, belch a lot, pick for bugs…"

"You copying homework from me…" Brendan said finishing off for his old friend. "Yep, it's going to be a world beater," he continued, before rolling his eyes while letting out a stressed sigh. "Besides, when have I done any of that with you?"

Suddenly, they heard someone walking into the classroom. They saw a pink haired woman dressed in a woolly jumper over her blue jeans with an embarrassed look on her face walking towards her desk. Immediately seeing her as the teacher, they all sat in their seats. "Okay, okay, settle down, kids," she said after letting out a sigh of annoyance. "I should be putting on a happy face but something stupid happened and I don't wanna talk about that."

Everyone felt uncomfortable by their teacher's first impression as she turned around picking up a marker pen. "She went to the wrong class, didn't she?" whispered one of the students.

"Yep," whispered another.

"Anyway, my name is Miss Whitney and I'm your home tutor," she said in an unbothered tone after she finished off writing her name down. "If you have any questions, ask me, blah, blah, blah, blah."

The students had this awkward feeling again, towards this teacher. "Blah, blah, blah, blah?" murmured one of the students.

"Okay," Miss Whitney said tossing her marker pen down to the desk. "Before we start everything, I'd like each and every one of you to introduce yourselves."

One of the students became incredibly nervous when he heard that. He was a young kid with green hair and brown eyes. His name was Wally Emerald, a shy person who came from Verdenturf town in Hoenn. He doesn't often leave his house between schools and was often seen as a loner for those who knew him. One by one, a student walks to the front of the classroom in a random order so that they could introduce themselves.

"Konnichiwa! My name is Dawn…"

"Hiya, folks, my name is Zoey. No autographs please…"

"Hi! My name is Rui…"

Each time a student got introduced, Wally kept on getting more nervous. When Miss Whitney called him out, a frightened look showed on his face as he quickly stood up, letting a small scared 'eep' out of his mouth.

He walked to the front of the room, looking rather terrified of this situation until he went behind the teacher's desk. He looked at each and every one of the students. Most of them were looking at him while others were completely ignored him. "Um… er… h… hello," he said with a stutter, trying to get his introduction over with. "My… my name's Wally… I'm… I'm fifteen years old… and… it's… very nice… to meet you all."

He quickly bowed at a fast pace, accidentally slamming his head on the desk, much to everyone's surprise. After feeling the impact, he slowly raised his head and showing dizzy and hurt face. "C'mon, Wally!" one of the students said encouraging him. The other students followed him.

"We're with you, old chap!"

"We believe in you, man!"

"Additional words of support, Wally!"

"Yes, yes, alright," Miss Whitney in an uninterested way, motioning everyone to quiet down. "Just because he's a nervous little brat, doesn't mean you can tease him, okay?"

The students couldn't help but feel awkward about what she had just said. "Little brat?" whispered one of the students while Wally continued to stutter. "She's not going to pick on him, is she?"

"I wouldn't bet on it, mate," whispered another.

After Wally finished his introduction, Miss Whitney looked at the register she had in her hand. "Okay, one more student to introduce… Wes Colosseum," Miss Whitney said.

That caught the student's attention after he was gazing outside the window. He was sitting at the far end of the room. He had calm yellow eyes and silver spiky hair. He calmly got up from his seat and made his way to the front of the room with his hands in his pockets while everyone looked on.

He let out a small sigh upon facing the entire class. "Okay, my name is Wes," he started, slightly looking down on the teacher's desk. "There isn't a lot to tell so don't expect a long one. I don't have a lot of hobbies and there isn't much that I like. I don't live my parents and I haven't had any contact with them for a long time so I can't remember what their jobs are."

Everyone became rather surprised when he said that. "I take it that you don't get on with your parents," Miss Whitney said, starting to get interested.

"Now, she's getting interested," one of the students murmured, feeling somewhat envious.

"You could say that," Wes said turning his attention to his teacher. "Don't worry about me though, I got a job myself so I'll be okay."

"What do you do?"

"I work as a stockroom guy at a local pokemart."

As he continued talking, the other students couldn't help but show their surprise towards Wes.

After the bell rang, ending the class period, Barry and Brendan decided to go to the cafeteria for lunch. "C'mon! I'll race ya!" Barry shouted with enthusiasm before zooming off.

"Jeez, I'm not bothered," Brendan replied with boredom as Barry zoomed around the corner.

Barry turned his head around to see if Brendan was racing him. He smiled cheekily when he wasn't following him. "Heh! Lazy boy!" he shouted before he ran into a trio of people, accidentally knocking them.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, brat!" shouted one of boys angrily as he and his two other friends stood up. He had slightly tanned skin with brown hair.

"Who are you calling a brat?!" Barry shouted back, also standing straight up but he was quicker than they were.

"You don't know who we are?" shouted the second person. He was taller and skinnier than the first person

"How insulting!" complained the third person. He was bulkier and was the second tallest of the trio with a haircut shaped like a bowl.

"Then we're gonna tell ya!" shouted the first of the trio. "My name's Kim!"

"My name is Ken!" shouted the tallest one, also showing off of a pose.

"My turn! I'm Kai!" shouted the bulky one, doing the same also.

"We're the invincible pokemon brothers!" the trio shouted, showing off their martial arts and striking their poses since Kim introduced himself first until they finished.

"Yeah!? Well, Barry's my name and teaching you three a lesson's my game!" Barry yelled. "But first, allow me to get some backup!"

He turned towards Brendan and Wally who weren't far behind. "Well, this is turning into a nice introduction," Brendan mumbled.

"Hey, fellas," Barry called out to them. "Help me out here, will ya!?"

Brendan looked at him with a dull look on his face. "Have we met?" he asked.

"Oi! Don't be like that, pal!" Barry cried, knowing that he would be in trouble if he doesn't get help.

"B… Barry, just apologise to them," Wally said fearfully.

"It's no good," Brendan replied dully. "He isn't listening."

"Alright, boys, stop it," said a voice firmly. Everyone turned their attentions to the person who spoke. He was wearing a schoolboy uniform and had black scruffy hair with zigzag markings underneath each eye. He also had a small yellow mouse with red cheeks on his shoulder.

"It's… that… Ash guy," Kim said nervously.

"You know him?" Barry asked.

"I'm not telling you anything!" Kim shouted angrily at Barry.

"He got beaten by me a couple of weeks back in a pokemon battle," Ash said with arrogance in his tone.

"Pokemon… battle…" Barry murmured to himself before getting excited. "A new rival!"

"Great. He's worked up again," Brendan said dully. For as long as he knew Barry, Barry always had been a big competitor who backed out from no challenge but failed to win a number of times. He walked in front of the excited Barry and introduced himself in order to not let his hyperactive friend get any attention. "Sorry, you're going to have to ignore him. He's a little weird," he said as he offered his hand to shake. "Hi, my name's Brendan."

"Ash," the black-haired teen replied casually as he shook Brendan's hand.

"Why do you have to spoil the fun!?" Barry yelled angrily at Brendan.

"Well, well, if it isn't my cousin Wally," a green haired teenager said arrogantly, walking up behind Ash.

"Er… hi, cousin Drew," Wally said nervously.

"You guys are cousins?" Barry asked in surprise.

"Unfortunately, yes," Drew answered. "And let me guess, you feel sorry for the guy because Wally never had any friends."

"He does now!" Barry yelled. "He's a got friend in me!"

"I feel sorry for you," Drew said, still having such arrogance.

"What does that suppose to mean!?"

"You'll find out eventually," Drew said as he slowly began to walk past them, hands in pockets while everyone looked on. "One of these days, he'll let you down big time."

"That guy is not likable," Ash said noticeably.

"You don't have to tell me that," Brendan replied.

Barry gnarled his teeth, angry that his new friend's cousin would insult him like that. "T… take no notice of him, B… Barry," Wally said. "He's always like that. Y… you don't want to mess with him either, he's a great trainer as well."

"He's not worth it anyway," Brendan said.

"Yeah, probably like you," Kim said.

"What'cha say!" Barry shouted angrily at Kim. "Don't make me angry now!"

"Stop it already!" Brendan said pushing Barry's back. "We've got a half hour left!"

Back inside the classroom, Wes was looking outside the window in a bored way. "Hey, Wes," a woman's called out to him.

Wes turned to the person's attention and it turned out to be Miss Whitney, who was standing outside. He got up from his desk and walked out of the room to meet up with her. "Yes, miss?" he asked.

"Well, I heard about this thing about you being retained since you did badly in your tests, homework, not getting along with your parents and stuff. This is probably a rumour but were you involved in some gang by any chance?" Miss Whitney suspiciously.

Wes remained silent for long seconds. "No comment," he replied.

"Well, just don't go getting yourself into trouble, not in this school at least," Whitney said. "I don't want your nuisances going onto my conscience and I don't other teachers getting in my face. Are you are causing trouble, don't get caught at least…"

As she continued talking, she was beginning to sound less like a teacher and more like a chatterbox, which Wes noticed, much to his bafflement.

Neither of them noticed a girl in her mid-teens, known as Rui, was overhearing their conversation. "(He was retained)?" she thought to herself as she looked at Wes's body language. He stood like a person who doesn't give much attention with his hands in his pockets. "(Does he… get into fights)?"

After school was finished for the day, Rui was running down a street, hurrying to get back home. "Oh no, I'm going to be late," she said to herself in a desperate tone. She spotted an empty path inside a nearby forest. She made an immediate stop. She remembered seeing this path a number of times. "This takes me back to my house in no time," she murmured to herself. "But my grandparents said it's too dangerous to go through because a strange guy hangs around in there." She was told that the man who lived there would hurt anyone who came his way.

She looked at both directions that would take her home. One was a shortcut through a forest, yet a strange person lives there. Another one was a long way off from home yet she would be safe from him. "I'll take it," she said to herself as she ran into the forest not knowing that someone was not far behind.

She continued running inside the forest, hoping to not let this strange man catch her. That was until she saw a cross road ahead of her. She made a sudden stop there and looked around, wondering which way to go.

"(Hmhm… such a silly victim... a cute one too)," a shadowed figure sneered in thought. He was hiding behind the bushes and trees. He slowly walked out of them, revealing more of himself. He was a mid-forties man wearing a pair of blue jeans, brown shoes, and a ragged beige coloured sweater.

He was slowly creeping up to Rui from behind, trying not to make any sound. Despite that he was trying not to, Rui somehow sensed his presence. She quickly turned around, seeing this freak behind with scared eyes.

"Hey-ya!" a voice yelled. Another shadowed figure dived from one of trees, kicking down the man who was about to hurt Rui in a bad way. The man in rags harshly hit the ground after getting kicked in the face while the guy in school uniform stood close to Rui. He had silver spiky hair, calm yellow eyes and white stripe painted on his face. The girl looked and recognised him as...

"Wes?" she said in surprised. Most of his appearance were a give away, except for the white stripe. Wes quickly turned his eye towards her before turning his attention back to the possible abuser.

"Stay away from her if you know what's good for you," Wes warned him.

The freak shook away his dizziness before picking himself. "Who do you think you're talking to?" he said darkly, drawing out a knife out his pocket. "Don't you dare talk to me like that!"

Wes looked at the weapon the man was holding in his hand, not impressed with this freak's method. "Is that suppose to scare me?" he asked. "Or are you being scared?"

A fight shortly ensued, with Rui hiding away in the bushes with her eyes shut tightly out of fear but she could hear all bashing and grunting going on in the background despite covering her ears.

After hearing no more of the pair fighting, Rui peeped over to see who had won. The freak was lying on the floor unconscious while Wes was sitting on his backside, panting in and out. Both had bumps and bruises on their bodies. Wes had less of them but he had a cut on his left cheek.

"Wes! You're hurt!" Rui cried as he she ran out if the bushes. "And that scar!"

"Don't worry about it, I do this all the time," Wes said coolly as he stood back up, turning towards her. "But you know that this place is dangerous, right?"

"I know," Rui said with guilt in her voice. "I didn't want to but I didn't want to be late either."

"Still, just to be more careful in future, okay?" Wes said as he placed his hands in his pockets searching for something to no avail. "Dang, no tissue."

Fortunately for him, he saw Rui handing him one. Wes mentally shrugged, seeing no other alternative as he took the tissue. "Thanks," he said before wiping the beads off his head before placing it on the gash on his cheek to stop the bleeding.

"You're welcome," Rui said, giving a thankful smile.

"C'mon, I'll walk you home," he said in an uninterested tone as he began walking into one of the three routes.

"What about him?" she asked slightly worried about the thug.

"He's only knocked out. You wouldn't want to stick around when he comes around, would ya?" Wes replied as he continued walking.

Scared, she began running after her saviour hoping that Wes had taken the right pathway. When she got to his side, she looked up to his face before turning away slightly blushing. "Wes," she said.

"Hmm?" Wes responded.

"Thank you."

Soon, after their quiet walk, they came out of the forest and spotted a flower shop across the road. "Hey! That's my place!" Rui cried happily before grabbing Wes's hand. "C'mon, I got plasters at home."

"There's no need, really," Wes said, not wanting to be a bother.

Despite that, she dragged him into her house. "Wait here," she said after getting him to stand in the middle of the shop while she looked for the plasters at the back. It took her a few seconds to get it but when she came out he was no longer there. "Wes…" she said worriedly with a sigh. "I wonder how he turned out like this."

Meanwhile, Wes making his way back to his home, which was in a hostile environment where there were lots of litter scattered on the floor and a police siren could heard from a distance. As he continued walking, he spotted a little pink kitten with a yellow belly, face and paws, along with a large pink tail. "A skitty," he murmured as he looked at the little creature resting on the nearby steps he was about to walk up. He slowly moved his hand towards it to give a little pet.

CHOMP!

The little skitty suddenly bit his fingers.

The next morning, Wes came in with a plaster on his face and his fingers wrapped in bandages. Upon his entry into the classroom, Rui was the first to greet him. "Morning!" Rui cried happily. "I want to say thanks again for saving me last night. If there's any way I can make it up to you…"

"No problem," Wes said. "There's no need."

"Er… Wes," she said noticing the bandages. "What happened to your hand?"

Wes looked at his covered up hand, remembering that event. "It was in a bad mood," he said walking past her getting to his seat.

"Did he… get into another fight?" she asked herself quietly, deeply concerned for him.

Cue ending song 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' by Cyndi Lauper  
-----------------  
Next episode:

Barry: Yesh! We're gonna do some PE and I'm going to beat Wes in any given sport no matter what it is!

Brendan: I don't know about that. He looks like a great athlete.

Barry: Hey! I won trophies for our last school!

Brendan: I don't think that ever happened. But I do think you could win some munching contest hands down.

Barry: That reminds me! When's lunch? I'm starving!

Brendan: It's only ten o'clock. Oh, there he goes. See ya next time.  
-----------------  
More coming! What'cha think?


	2. Year 1, October

_Cue 'Let's Get It Started' by Black Eyed Peas_

**Year 1, October**

Most schools have held lessons called PE where students have to learn about various sports and games, and Goldenrod High was no exception. One person in class two of the first year students was more than prepared for that lesson. "Right! lunch time!" Barry yelled after the bell rang, ending the time for class. "I'm gonna get me some big sandwiches for lunch!"

"Hey, get me some too," Brendan said.

"Er… same here," Wally said.

"Right on it!" Barry yelled excitedly as he rushed out of the door before anyone else could ask for their sandwiches.

"Every week," Brendan said dully. Knowing Barry since pre-school, he has always been so excited when there was a PE day. "At least I can count this as a return for me 'helping' him with his homework."

"Goal!" Barry yelled loudly, catching everyone's attention. This time he was a carrying a bunch of sandwiches and buns in his arms.

"Hey, that was quick," Wally said noticeably with surprise in his tone.

"So, what's my time?" Barry asked.

"Er… we weren't timing you," Brendan said dully.

When lunchtime was nearly over, two young teens were walking to the girls' dressing room. One was a dark haired girl wearing a schoolgirl uniform while the other was a redhead and was wearing… a schoolboy uniform.

The girls' locker room had lockers on all sides of the room and large benches were placed in the center of the room near the lockers. A number of girls were getting changed in their sports uniform.

Upon their entry, one of the girls spotted the schoolboy-uniformed teen while the others were getting changed into their sports uniform. She was about to scream in shock and fright but suddenly realised that it was one of the girls from her class. "Oh, hi, Zoey," she said sheepishly.

The redhead teen turned towards the girl who called out to her and waved her back while saying "Hello."

"I think she was about to warn the other girls," Dawn said as they reached their lockers.

"I can bet on that," Zoey said after she chuckled slightly. "Kinda reminds you of when we first met in here, right?"

True. A month ago, before their first PE lesson, Dawn was the first girl who entered before everyone else did. As she was in the middle of changing, she heard some footsteps coming her way. When she turned around, she saw a redhead in schoolboy uniform looking at her with a smile. She screamed in shock and fright as she covered her upper body up with her PE t-shirt, her face beet red. "Hey! This is the girls' dressing room!" she yelled.

"Huh?" the redhead responded in a puzzled way.

"If you're looking for the boys' locker room, it's in the next corridor!"

"Oh! You thought that I was a guy?" the redhead after slapping 'himself' on the forehead. "You got it all wrong. I'm a girl."

Dawn slightly calmed down but was still blushing. "But… that uniform…" she said.

"This?" the redhead said as she motioned her hand around her uniform. "I guess I prefer wearing men's clothing."

Dawn lowered her t-shirt. "Oh… I'm sorry," she said sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it. I get mistaken for a guy a lot," the redhead said before she walked towards her and held out her hand. "We are in the same class but just in case, my name is Zoey."

Still blushing after what she found an embarrassing moment, Dawn held her hand out and shook Zoey's. "Dawn," she said introducing herself. "It's… nice to meet you."

After remembering that moment, Dawn had a bashful look on her face. "Yeah… yeah it does," she said as she was slowly getting changed in her PE clothes while Zoey finished.

The redhead noticed that Dawn hasn't finished changing yet. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"Er… nothing, I was just thinking," Dawn replied, still changing into her sports gear, not looking at her.

"Hey," Zoey said with a smile, patting her on the shoulder, making her flinch slightly. "Take your time. I'll see you out there," she finished as she began walking out while Dawn looked on.

Rui noticed the red colour on Dawn's face and walked up to her. "Dawn, you okay?" she asked. "It looks like you got a fever."

Dawn pressed both tips of her index fingers. "Ever remember an embarrassing moment?" she asked. "So much that it makes you feel like this?"

A PE lesson was about to be held outside the school building where a racetrack was placed. Many students were doing their warm-ups while others spoke to other students or relaxing. One in particular…

"Alright!" Barry yelled. "I'm gonna show everybody that I'm the best sports thingy guy there ever was!"

"Most unlikely," Brendan mumbled, seeing how hyperactive his energetic friend was.

"Wes! I choose you!" Barry yelled, pointing at the silver haired teen.

"Er… why me?" Wes asked himself quietly and nervously as he slowly made his to the racetrack.

All of their classmates were cheering them on. Rui in particular was cheering for Wes. Ever since he saved her the other month, she saw him as her 'knight in shining armour' and walked with him when school finishes everyday to keep him company. "Go for it, Wes! I'm cheering for you!" she cried as he reached to the track, next to his opponent.

"Hey! Since you're taller than me by a few inches you should step back a few inches," Barry said to Wes.

"Sure," Wes said as he did so, not wanting to get himself into an arguing situation, much to everyone's discomfort.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Rui yelled in disapproval.

"It doesn't matter," Brendan said. "Watch."

Zoey was standing by the side of the tracks, holding her hand upwards. "Ready…" she cried as the boys prepared to race each other. "Go!" she yelled waving her hand down.

That signal made the two racers run as though as their lives depended on it. Using all of his energy, Barry showed high intensity on his face while he ran as fast as he could while Wes kept a calm and focussed face, trying to keep up. Their classmates encouraged them to run faster. Rui in particular was cheering the loudest for Wes. Brendan was one of a few people who weren't cheering, knowing what was about to happen. "(Wait for it)…" he thought.

As he expected, Barry was beginning to lose speed after exerting all his energy into this contest. His face of intensity turned into a face of strain. In no time, Wes caught up with him, running pass him even while still showing a calm and focussed face. To everyone's surprise, Wes was really fast in this running contest. They saw him run in other PE lessons but they never noticed how fast he could run until now.

Soon, Wes crossed the finish line first while it took Barry a while to cross it. Everyone cheered for the winner. Barry collapsed to the floor out of tiredness. Brendan and Wally walked over to Barry to check up on his condition. He was heavily breathing in and out. "Are you okay?" Wally asked with concern in his voice.

"You always challenge people yet you always lose," Brendan said as he crouched down towards the exhausted loser.

"I'm not a loser!" Barry yelled angrily, standing right back up. "I'm the runner up! Runner up, I tell ya!"

Inside a classroom, Kim noticed what was going on outside after he saw Barry losing to Wes in the running contest. He opened the classroom window. "Loser!" he yelled before he was grabbed by the shoulder. He turned around and saw Ash, crossly pulling him back.

"Will you shut up?" Ash said sternly, gnarling his teeth. "Do you want to get into trouble?"

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked angrily. He was riding on Ash's head, giving an angry glare at him.

"You're the loser, loser!" they heard Barry yelled back.

"Will you shut up!?" Brendan yelled.

Ash quickly closed the window. "You're lucky that Miss Whitney isn't here!" he said as he went back to his desk.

"In my opinion I think we all are," Drew said, showing off his smugness as usual. He was seated behind Ash.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, she's not the 'best' teacher here. A lot of the time she would either take a nap on her desk or go outside for a walk or something while we're in here. We've been here for a month, you should know that by now."

Ash showed a sheepish look on his face while everyone chortled, either at Ash's ignorance or their own. "I… guess not," he said.

"Hey! Don't talk to Ashy that way! He doesn't like you talking trash at him!" shouted one of the schoolgirls. Her desk was next to Drew's. She was a redhead with pigtails and red markings on her face. Her name was Macey Red. Ever since she laid her eyes on him when he introduced himself to the class a month ago, a strong feeling and emotion, known as love, overwhelmed her. She gave Drew an angry glare before turning to Ash with a pleasant smile. "Isn't that right, Ashy boy?" she said with loving eyes while Drew remained confident with silence.

"Er… there's no need to…" Ash stuttered after that sudden outburst Macey made. Before he could say another word, she ran towards him and gently grasped his hand.

"Hey, how about today we go and grab a bite to eat later, huh?" she asked happily, adding more to Ash's awkward feeling.

From the end of the classroom, another redhead noticed what was going on and decided to take action after seeing how Ash was struggling to tell Macey 'no' but she kept on interrupting him. She was a slim girl with a ponytail on the side of her head. She quickly walked over to them and slapped her hand away from him and gave her an angry glare. "Didn't you see the look on his face," she shouted. "He doesn't want anything to do with you, let alone go with you for a burger!"

"Let me guess! You're his 'bodyguard', Misty, aren't you!" Macey answered back.

"No! It's just that you don't know when to quit!"

"Guys! Guys! Settle down!" Ash said standing up, trying to stop the fighting. "We don't want teachers storming in here, putting you guys in detention, do we?"

The girls let out a small sigh to calm themselves down. Macey gave Misty a nasty glare. "This isn't over," she snarled as she made her back to her desk.

Misty turned away from Ash but he held out his hand in front of her to stop her for a second or so. "Thanks, Misty," he said with small thankful smile.

"You're welcome," she replied softly before she walked to her desk.

"Humph, lovebirds," Drew muttered noticeably as he went back to his studying.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Ash asked, sounding as though he misheard him..

"Nope. Nothing," Drew replied, not knowing that a girl behind him was giving him an evil glare after hearing what he said.

She had blue eyes and short brown hair with both sides long enough to cover her ears. Her name was May Maple. "(Jerk)…" she angrily thought after learning how egotistical this guy was.

"Alright, babies! Line up for the roll call!" shouted the PE teacher, getting the students' attention. He was a large muscular man with blond spiky hair and tanned skin. He was wearing a running suit accompanied by a small whistle. His name was Mr. Surge. Rumour had it that he was in the army but left when he felt he should give something to the next generation of people. Because of his size, most of the students were intimidated.

After everyone got in line, Surge looked down on his clipboard, which had a list of students before calling each name.

"…Brendan."

"Yes sir."

"…Dawn."

"Here sir."

"…Barry."

"Yes sir!"

"…Wally."

"Y… yes sir."

"…Zoey…"

After calling out the names of about thirty students he looked up from his register. "Anyone's name I didn't call out yet!?" he asked loudly.

"Right here!" a woman's voice yelled as she waved her arms. Everyone looked at the person who called out to Mr. Surge. She had pink hair with hoop shaped pigtails at the back of it and was taller than most of the students. Much to everyone's surprise, they recognised her as…

"Ms. Whitney!" Mr. Surge barked in an annoyed way as he stormed towards her. "What are you doin' 'ere? Don't cha have a class to teach?"

"I made it study hall," Miss Whitney replied simply, not afraid of the PE teacher as she showed a happy face. "I need some exercise anyway."

Surge let out a small sigh. "Okay. You can stay but don't cause any trouble."

Rumour also had it that these two people knew each other since their school days.

The sport the students were going to learn that day was basketball. "Okay, does anyone know the player positions for this game?' Mr. Surge asked his class.

"I do!" Whitney yelled. "I'll be Jordan!"

Everyone looked at her with baffled faces. "Wha…" some of them said.

"I'm gonna be Jordan!"

Sometime after explaining the rules of the game, the class was told to get into a group of six. "Six, huh?" Brendan said after noticing that his team consisted of himself, Barry, Wally, Rui, Zoey, and Dawn. "I wouldn't call this a winning team."

His team was first to play. At some point, Barry caught hold of the ball and looked around to see who was free from getting marked from the opposition. Unfortunately for Wally, he was spotted as the only free player standing a distance. "Wally!" he yelled as he lobbed it into the air.

"I got it! I got it!" Wally cried nervously with his arms held up while the ball started to fall down.

Whee…

"I got it! I got it!"

Whee…

"I got it! I got it!"

Whee… bonk!

Unfortunately, the ball got him instead. After getting hit on the head, he was knocked down, much to everyone's concern as they all rushed to him, yelling things out to snap him out of his dizziness.

"Wally! Are you okay!?"

"Wally! Say something! Anything!"

"Additional words of concern, dude!"

"Wally! How many fingers am I holding up!?"

"Forty two…" Wally said dizzily.

"Er… sorry, Wally," Barry said apologetically before getting excited again. "Let's play ball again!" he yelled as he grabbed the ball and ran around the pitch with it.

Wally groaned in pain, rubbing his head while his friends help him up. "I don't think I can play anymore," he said.

"Take five minutes, baby. You'll be fine," Surge said. He has a habit of calling everyone younger than him 'baby' for no important reason, other than what was previously stated. "But your team needs a substitute."

"I'll go," Wes said as he raised his hand, volunteering to take Wally's place for the time being. Surge allowed him in.

In no time at all, Wes's team was winning by a mile, scoring a number of points for his team, thanks to his natural athletic ability. "Get outta my way!" Miss Whitney yelled as she ran towards her goal, bouncing the ball on the ground. But, as quick as a blink, Wes snatched the ball from her, much to her shock and quickly scored again for his team. She stood on her spot for long seconds before she angrily yelled. "Foul! Foul! Let's play some dodge ball! Wes, you're in detention after this!"

"Shut up!" Surge yelled, annoyed by her yelling.

Soon, Wes scored a three pointer, much to everyone's amazement; especially Rui's when she ran up to him and held her hand up. "That was great, Wes!" Rui cried excitedly, signalling for him to give a high five, which was a light slap to the hand and that meant a number of good things like a greeting or to show a way of saying 'good work'. Wes coolly did so.

"Awesome," Barry said in astonishment before putting on a determined face. "I'm going for him."

Brendan couldn't help but give him an awkward look. "Are you kidding me?" he asked.

"Dude! That guy scored some three pointers and some slam-dunks! I won't rest until I get past his level!"

"Oh, so that's what you mean. I thought you meant something else," Brendan said in realisation before showing a smug look. "Heh. Well, good luck to ya."

After school was finished that day, the friends decided to get some burgers on their way home after Barry's ranting about a fast food restaurant he had in mind. Wes was with them after Miss Whitney decided to let him go, mainly due to her laziness and not wanting to stay in school for a few extra minutes.

"I'm telling ya, buddies!" Barry said excitedly when they entered the building, filled with customers happily eating their burgers. "New Yorker makes the best burgers ever!"

His happiness soon turned into horror when he saw his rivals Kim and his 'Invincible Pokemon Brothers' were standing at the front of the counter about give their orders. "What the heck are they doing here!?" he yelled angrily.

"Oh boy, he's for it now," Brendan moaned.

The brothers turned around and saw the hyperactive blond glaring at them with with angry eyes. "Well, well. If it isn't the loser Barry and his crew of love crazy dummies!" Kim said smugly.

"You creep! I'm always here first!" Barry yelled. "No one gets in front of the cue in front of me when I'm here!"

"Hey, Brendan, what's up with Barry?" Rui asked, finding this situation rather awkward.

"He hates it when he has to wait in a cue. He hates waiting for anything," Brendan replied.

"Hey, Brock! Tell them I always come here!" Barry yelled towards the worker behind the counter. He had tanned skin with brown spiky hair with small eyes.

"He does, guys," Brock said with a nervous sweat drop. "He does because he comes here when there's no cue when he comes around. Now any of you guys gonna order?"

Brendan placed his hand on Barry's shoulder. "Dude, it's better to wait than to get into trouble," he said. "For once in your life, just be patient. Besides, they're not going to take long."

Barry let out a small frustrated moan. "Oh, all right," he said. "Let's see what's on the menu."

They all looked up to the menu board above the counter and noticed a large picture of a muscular bearded man holding a large hot dog and the food was titled as 'Black Jack's Jumbo Sized Hot Dogs'.

"I'm starving!" Barry shouted with excitement in his eyes before he zoomed towards the counter. The others followed but by walking while Wallty continued looking at the picture with curiosity. He noticed some people finding titles like these funny in the past but…

"I still don't get it," he said baffled as he scratched his head before following the others.

"Yeah! I'll have two of those specials please!" Kim said.

Barry gave a stern look to Brendan. "Did you hear that? He ordered two specials!" he whispered. "I'll have three specials!" he yelled towards Brock.

"Four specials!" Kim shouted.

"Five specials!"

"Hey! I thought I was the one who eats the most," Kai, Kim's fat brother said.

"Six!"

"Hold everything!" Brock yelled stopping the two rivals. "This restaurant does hold contests. If you want to compete, do it properly."

"What kind of contest?" Barry yelled.

Soon, Barry and Kim sat at the same table with stern and determined looks on their faces. Both of them had a stack of jumbo-sized hot dogs on a plate each. Brock stood between them as the referee. Everyone gathered around, interested in this contest.

"Right! I want a good clean fight, Barry! And no dirty tricks from you, Kim!" Brock demanded. "You two will take it in turns eating your respective dishes. The guy who eats one dish ahead after their opponent refuses in any way is the winner. We'll start by having both competitors eating their respective dish on the same turn to determine who'll go first. Are you two ready?"

Barry and Kim didn't give a response as they evilly glared into each other's eyes. "I'll… take it as a yes," Brock said dully. "Let the devouring… begin!"

Both Barry and Kim began stuffing their faces with their highly stacked hotdogs. Their friends were encouraging them to no end.

They were going through a number of dishes throughout the contest. Neither competitor was surrender neither to the food, nor to each other, no matter how big or how strange the food was and they both had their own methods of finishing off their food quickly.

For instance, Barry's eighth dish, he was attempting to eat every bite of it after someone encouraged him. Unfortunately, the plate itself wasn't edible so it would count as an entire dish.

For Kim's nineteenth dish, he had a huge bowl of trifle. After eating a spoonful, he decided that it wasn't quick enough as he tossed his spoon away and splashed his head into the trifle, attempting to slurp every last drop, including those that was left on the table.

Barry's twenty-sixth dish was a large plate filled with deep fried food with a cup full of gravy. He was about to pour some on his fried stuff but people told him to drink it, with a reason that he would be able to finish it off quickly… and he did.

Kim's thirty-ninth dish was a big plate of highly stacked sausages and a big jar of custard. If people thought that Kim wouldn't pour the custard onto the sausages, they were wrong because he did that before stuffing them down his mouth in order to get the better of his opponent.

Soon, after all that eating, Kim's forty-ninth dish was a couple of meatballs. He struggled to reach out to them but his body was feeling to weak. His arm collapsed, physically signalling that he gave up but that didn't mean that Barry won yet. "Right, Barry," Brock said firmly. "Kim has decided to retire. All you have to do right now is to eat those meatballs. If you do that then you're the winner."

Barry was also feeling weak and full after all that eating. With great struggle, he reached his hand and grabbed the meatballs before putting them in his mouth and started munching on them. After he swallowed them, he happily jumped up from his seat and the crowd cheered with joy while some of them moaned in displeasure.

"You did it, Barry!"

"Hooray!"

"Yeah!"

"Boo!"

"Ya see that, boy!?" Barry yelled triumphantly at his rival. "Three words for ya! In ya face!"

"Yeah? Well, I got two words for ya," Kim said smugly.

Five seconds later, Barry found himself in the men's bathroom, barfing in the toilet after Kim told him what those two words were. Brendan was standing the toilet door. "He was only kidding, Barry," Brendan said loudly.

"I can't breath!" Barry yelled back before losing the contents of the food he had during the day.

"Brock decided to disqualify Kim for cheating when he said that. This restaurant doesn't use that kind of food."

"So, I won?"

"No, you went and hurled so this contest is a draw. But look on the bright side, everyone's seeing Kim as the bad guy for it. And what's better than that, he's banned from this restaurant for a month after a quarrel they had."

"Next time, I'll ask before I eat!" Barry yelled.

"Didn't you hear a word I just said?" Brendan said in an annoyed tone, feeling ignored by his friend.

The next day, Barry and Kim recovered from their stomachaches, ready to fight again… and again… and again… and again.

_Cue 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' by Cyndi Lauper_  
-----------------  
Next episode:

Brendan: Ever met a transfer student, guys?

Rui: I think we all have but we never had one so calm and weird like this one.

Zoey: Yeah, I noticed. I'm not sure if Wally would feel comfortable with her next to him in class.

Barry: Dude! Wally doesn't feel comfortable with anything. He probably has a reason why he may not like her. Right, Wally?

Wally: Um…

Brendan: Sheesh. Don't spoil anything, guys. See ya next time.  
-----------------  
More coming! What'cha think? 


	3. Year 1, November

Cue opening song 'Let's Get It Started' by Black Eyed Peas

**Year 1, November**

"Good morning, class," Miss Whitney said nicely. It was home period where she had to make announcements so students had to pay attention to them in case of interest. Most of them were while others were thinking deeply or simply just ignoring her. "I have a surprise for you all. We have a transfer student here and I want all of you to be nice to this person," she said before turning towards the classroom door. "You may come in now."

The door opened and a girl entered the room. She short black hair. The back of it was pointing upwards and a hairpin with a white bow was attached on the side of her hair. She had calm and relaxed dark blue eyes and her body language was showing the same expression despite that this was her first day in this school. "Everyone, this is Marley Cave," the teacher said doing the introductions. "Marley, this is… everybody. Why don't you say hello to everybody and tell them a little about yourself?"

"Hello, everyone, it's very nice to meet you all," Marley said coolly with a smile. "I'm originally from Hearthome City in the Sinnoh region. I'm not interested in many things but that's not really important. I enjoy gardening a lot as a hobby though."

"Is that it? Bit of a boring person," Whitney mumbled to herself. "Okay!" she said enthusiastically. "Let's find an empty space… I see there's a spare desk and chair next to Wally's."

Wally's eyes widened with utter shock and not in a good way, with his face beet red. "Eep," he squeaked to himself, seeing the girl coming his way. He quickly turned his head towards the window, trying to hide his bashful looking face. He nervously moved his eyes towards Marley, who moved her calm eyes towards him. "(Gah! Eye contact)!" he screamed in thought, making the red blush on his face turn even redder while she took her seat.

"(Such a shy person)," she thought to herself, still smiling while she took one more glimpse at him.

When the home period was coming to an end, the teacher had an announcement. "Oh, class, before I forget, we're going to have an IQ test next week," she said.

The students began moaning and complaining about it. "It's okay, students," Miss Whitney said reassuringly. "It's nothing too serious. It's a multiple choice quiz and it doesn't affect your final grade for this year."

The students sighed in relief. "But then again, you don't want to show how dumb you are, do you?" she asked.

Barry raised his hand up. "If it doesn't affect my final grade, then I'm not really not that bothered about it. Maybe it's best not to turn up at all!" he said.

"There's a very good chance of being retained if you fail to attend."

The student hit his fist on the desk, cursing his bad luck. "Stupid politics," he moaned.

"This quiz is based on general knowledge and I can't tell you what to revise on because I won't be setting up the questions."

"Then, who is setting up the questions?" asked another student.

"That, I can't tell you… I'm not allowed to. To tell you something, even I don't know."

"Cruddy! Cruddy! Crudity! Crudity! Crud! Crud! Crud!" Barry shouted feeling the stress as he walked out the classroom for break time. Brendan followed while shaking his, knowing that his friends was incapable of getting a good score the upcoming IQ test.

"Jeez, just relax," Brendan said. "It's a small pointless test. If you're really that worried then just revise for a change. Although, I am a bit worried about Wally. He's holding the reputation of being one of the best students here and I hope that Marley girl doesn't put him off."

"You noticed it too?" Barry said loudly. "You can sense his head spinning from across the room!"

"Not so loud, man," Brendan said. "The girls might hear you."

"Why are you are worried about that?"

Brendan looked around, making sure that no one was paying attention before whispering his answer into his ear. After hearing the answer, Barry's eyes widened with surprise. "You're kidding!" he shouted. "Wally doesn't like…!"

Brendan quickly grabbed Barry by the mouth, keeping it shut before he could say the next word. "Dude! Not in front of the audience!" he shouted. "Why the heck did I whisper in your ear in the first place!?"

"Doesn't like what?" a girl's voice asked.

Brendan and Barry quickly turned around to see Rui, Zoey, Dawn, and Marley coming out of the classroom. Brendan quickly thought up something to say. "Spicy food," he said.

"Er… yeah! Yeah! Spicy food! Yeah! Right! Right!" Barry shouted, playing along with Brendan's little lie.

"Listen, Rui, your grandparents own a flower shop, Right? Why don't you talk about it with Marley?" Brendan asked. "We just want to borrow Dawn and Zoey for a minute or two."

"We do?" Barry asked unsurely.

"Sure," Dawn and Zoey replied simultaneously before Zoey turned to Rui and Marley. "We'll see you guys later," she said with a wink before she and Dawn followed Barry and Brendan to a random location.

"So, you work at a flower shop?" Marley asked with interest, still keeping her calm and cool exterior.

"Yeah, well, mostly on weekends and afternoons when school finishes," Rui said casually.

Marley's smile slightly grew. "Maybe we ought to set up a club here. The school allow clubs to be opened, right?"

Rui loved the idea and her happy face showed. "Of course the school allows clubs to open. I love the idea of yours," she said beamingly. "I'm sure a lot of guys would like to join up."

"Hiya, Rui!" beamed a boy's voice behind her suddenly.

Rui turned around to see the person who it was. It was Ken, one of the 'Invincible Pokemon Brothers' and a student from Class Five. "Hey, Rui," he said, being friendly. "Would you like to go out for a bite to eat later on?"

He had been asking her for sometime now ever since he laid eyes on her in the New Yorker last month when the hyperactive Barry and his rival, the arrogant Kim got into an eating contest.

"Er… thanks but no thanks, Ken," Rui said putting on a smile. "I got things to do."

Ken let out a disappointed sigh. "Okay… but why join not our martial arts club? The uniforms aren't the very best but I'm sure you'll look good in that."

At that point, Marley narrowed her eyes in disgust. If people were watching really closely, they would've seen a small sparkling glint in one of them. "I don't think so," she said.

Ken looked into her direction in surprise. "Oh, what's your name?" he asked reaching his hand, offering to shake her hand. "My name's Ken."

"Marley," she said, still showing her narrowed eyes as she shook his hand. "I'm new here."

"Hehe, pleasure," Ken replied casually before they released each other's hand. Ken looked up and down on Rui one more time. "Well, if any time you're interested, Rui, come and tell me, yeah?"

"Er… sure," Rui replied. With that, Ken walked away whistling a tune.

Rui turned around and let out a small sigh of relief. "Why does he always do that?" she asked. "It's like déj? vu."

"He asks you the same question every day?" Marley asked.

"Yeah. I know he wants to go out on a date with me but I'm not interested in him."

"I can see that. I don't like guys who ask girls out straightaway after just putting an eye on her," Marley said. Her look of disgust turned back in a calm smile. "(Besides, I can tell that you got a crush on someone already)," she thought.

Inside the classroom, Wally and Wes were still seated in their seats. Wes was minding his own business, reading a newspaper while Wally, still having the redness on his face, couldn't stop thinking about how he reacted towards Marley, and the blush on his face showed. As usual, Wes was seated behind Wally. There were times when the classroom was empty except those two still inside, like today. The thing was, Wally was a very shy person while Wes wasn't much of a talker. Despite that, Wes was the most popular person in class, so he was bound to have a few girls crushing on him, at least that was an opinion of many. Taking that into account, Wally decided to get a few tips from him. He turned around and saw that Wes was still reading the newspaper with narrowed eyes, which gave Wally a small startle. "Er… W… W… Wes?" he said with a stutter.

"Yeah?" Wes replied, looking up from his newspaper.

"Will it be okay if I ask you a few things?"

"Sure," Wes replied as he placed his newspaper aside.

"Um… a lot of people around see you… as the… most popular guy around here… right?" Wally asked nervously. "Do you think… you have girls liking you?"

Wes slowly looked outside of the window, seeing blue sky and white clouds while in deep thought. Wally couldn't but be baffled while Wes was taking some time thinking. Wally had a slight suspicion that Wes might know a bunch of girls. Finally, he slowly turned back Wally to give him an answer. "No," he said.

"Well then… don't you have a crush?"

Again, Wes slowly looked out of the window while going into deep thought, taking his time while Wally waited. Soon, Wes turned back to Wally to give him this answer. "No," he said.

"So… you don't have any tips about crushes, boyfriends, girlfriends, anything?"

This time, Wes looked down to the floor, being in deep thought, taking his time. Again, Wally waited patiently, yet he was looking forward to a positive answer. Soon, Wes raised his head to give Wally the next answer. "Suppose you could… get to know the girl first," he said.

"What!? I don't have a crush on Marley!" Wally shouted in sudden panic, much to Wes's surprise. "Why's everyone accusing me of this so suddenly!?"

"I… I never said you have a crush on Marley," Wes said, startled by Wally's sudden uproar. Embarrassed, Wally couldn't help but blush deep red after he realised what just happened. Wes never mentioned Marley and Wally jumped to the conclusion he was talking about her when he mentioned 'the girl'. "You have a crush on Marley? I thought you were getting shy with her like you do with most girls."

"I…! Er…! Um…! Eh…! Oh…! Ur…!" Wally stuttered in panic. "I'm going out for a bit!" he shouted before dashing towards the door with his face still beet red, leaving Wes slightly baffled.

Elsewhere, Brendan and Barry were discussing with Dawn and Zoey about Wally. "You guys suspect it too?" Dawn asked. "I thought he was acting shy like he did when he first met us."

"But now that you mention it, his was face redder than usual," Zoey said.

"Right, we ought to tell him about that," Brendan said. "It's just my opinion but I think he never went out with a girl."

"Neither did you," Barry said cheekily, making his friend blush deeply in shock. "How about it if I talk to him?"

"Hey! You never went out with a girl either! Besides, if you talk to him, you're gonna mess his head up even further than it already is!" Brendan said angrily.

"First thing, I don't need a date to know girls," Barry said smugly. "Secondly, how would I mess up his head?"

"Look, Wally's a bright guy and there are guys who like him for it but he doesn't want to distracted by that… without his smarts, he's nothing."

They both noticed Zoey and Dawn giving them some awkward glares. "What?" they asked as though they never suspected anything.

"I think you guys hang out way too much," Dawn said.

The next lesson after break time was History. A subject where a random person made a joke that it was the sweetest school subject because it was full of dates. A young blue-haired man in his mid-twenties, wearing a white-buttoned shirt and a pair of black trousers, was a teaching the class. The students knew him as Mr. Brawly. Most of the female students disliked him for a reason.

"…And you kids should follow this guy's example," Mr. Brawly said. "It'll be a good idea to set up your goals to provide a better future."

Marley raised her hand up, getting his attention.

"Marley, new girl?" he asked with enthusiasm.

"Mr. Brawly, why have you decided to become a teacher?" she asked.

"It's the schoolgirls, baby!" Mr. Brawly answered with eagerness in his voice. "I love checking them out!"

All of the schoolgirls became shocked and disgusted by that answer. Marley in particular narrowed her eyes before a glint sparkled in one of them for a small second.

After class, a number of the students and Mr. Brawly left the classroom. Marley, Dawn, Zoey, Rui and Brendan got into a group chat talking about their History teacher. "Oh my gosh! Did you hear what Mr. Brawly said!?" Dawn exclaimed with shock and disgust.

"Yeah! What is up with that!?" Zoey said also shocked by his behaviour.

"I despise people like him," Marley said with disgust in her voice.

"I feel sorry for you guys, really," Brendan said. "We all know the guy's a pervert but to express that so openly…"

"No!" a bunch of people yelled behind them, taking them by surprise. They were all male students from their class group and they had tears flowing down their faces. One of the students the girls and Brendan saw Barry as part of that group, much to their disgust.

"We of the male student population are so moved by his honesty," Barry sobbed. "We never had a teacher like him… ever!" His fellow Mr. Brawly worshippers agreed as they all nodded as tears continued to flow from their eyes.

"Barry! Get over here!" Brendan shouted as he stood up from his chair, motioning his blond friend to follow. "The rest of you clear off and dry your eyes!"

"Okay, I'm coming," Barry sobbed as he began wiping his tears while following Brendan out of the classroom.

"We're off to the canteen for lunch," Brendan said. "You girls coming?"

"Sure," some of the girls said as they got up from their seats.

When lunchtime came, a lot of the students were in the canteen getting their chosen food and snacks. Wally on the other hand was sitting next to a tree at the back of the school eating a sandwich. Still having the beet red colour on his face, he was hoping that his friends wouldn't meet him there. Unfortunately…

"So this is your hiding place," a voice said.

Surprised, Wally looked up towards the person who spoke. It turned out to be Brendan who spoke, followed by Barry. They were both holding their own sandwiches and buns. Wally mentally cursed his bad luck. "(I knew I should've hidden at the gym)," he thought to himself.

"Wally, old buddy, old pal," Barry said with a cheesy grin. "We need to talk."

"Mind if we sit?" Barry asked in a caring tone.

"I don't think I have a choice… do I?" Wally asked with hope in his tone.

"No, not really," Barry replied as he and Brendan sat next to Wally on both sides.

"It's about what happened this morning," Brendan said. "You were acting very shy when you first looked at Marley."

"I… I guess so," Wally said. "But I'm always like this when I'm with girls."

"But I guess you're used to some of the girls in our classroom, right? Like Rui and Dawn?"

"Yeah… sort of."

"Let's not forget about Misty," Barry said cheekily. "She's some girl, huh?"

"Shush, Barry," Brendan said. "Wally, how were you feeling when you first saw Marley?"

"Well… my temperature was rising up a little bit… my heart was beating pretty fast… I was getting a little sweaty… and I was feeling a little dizzy… but that was before…"

"Hey, does that mean that you have a crush on her?" Barry said cheekily. "Our little baby Wally has grown up!" he squealed with delight.

"M… me? A crush on her!? Wally said nervously.

"What are you going to do?" Barry said, sounding somewhat panicky but with a smile on his face.

"I… I don't know!" Wally whimpered fearfully.

"The IQ test is on next week!"

"Oh no!"

"You might fail that test! You may not be able to concentrate!"

"Wah!"

"You won't be able to help me with my homework anymore!"

"Barry! You're not helping!" Brendan shouted.

Back inside the canteen, the girls were seated at the same table having some nice girl talk. They each had a tray of food. Dawn and Zoey next to each other on one side while Rui and Marley sat on the other side. "…I heard that some good perfumes are going down in prices this season at Erika's," Rui said.

"I think go and check them out this weekend then," Dawn said before looking at Zoey, who gave her a nod.

"Say, does anyone have a crush on someone yet?" Zoey asked.

Rui's eyes widened with shock, wondering why she asked that question. "Wha… why ask that question?" she asked with a blush.

"Just curious. If anyone has a crush on someone we'll be happy to help out, right?" Zoey replied giving a Rui a wink.

Rui became startled by that wink, wondering why if she did that. But then she quickly remembered that Brendan and Barry borrowed them earlier in the day leaving her and Marley behind. "(Could it be that something's wrong with Marley)?" she thought to herself. "Why? Do you have a crush on someone?" she asked Zoey.

"Nope," Zoey replied simply, not showing any blushing or any sign of denial. "What about you, Dawn?"

Dawn had her slightly bashful face turned away for a small second before turning her attention back to her friends, no longer showing the redness on her face. "Er… no," she said sheepishly. "For the moment there, I thought I saw a small cute pokemon running across the hall."

Marley couldn't help but show a small smile at Dawn's reaction. "Or a cute person maybe?" she asked.

"No! No! A cute pokemon! Really!" Dawn said waving her down, blushing with embarrassed.

"So, Marley, do you have a crush on somebody?" Rui asked.

"You haven't answered your question yet," Marley said coolly.

A small blush came on Rui's face again. "Well, uh…" she stuttered while pressing her fingertips together, thinking of someone in mind. "I… I… kinda like…"

Marley placed her hand on Rui's shoulder. "It's okay," she said. "It's only my first day here. I don't have a crush on anyone yet. You can tell us whenever you're ready. That goes for you too, Dawn."

"No! No! I don't have a crush! Really!" Dawn replied quickly in a panic.

"Huh! It seems that you have a knack for getting people to show off their feelings," Zoey said to Marley. "I'd be impressed if you had a knack of guessing correctly of who likes who."

"Well, all I can say is that someone that likes you is closer to you than you might think," Marley replied.

"Really?" Zoey replied in an interested way, not taking notice of Dawn's flinching. "What if I am to tell you that someone has a crush on you?"

"And just after one day?" Marley replied sounding slightly surprised. "I would like to see this person."

"Cool. The guy would like to see you at some level, when he's ready that is."

"Hey, is it okay if I sit with you guys?" asked a voice in a down tone.

They looked and saw a girl with ginger hair with a ponytail at the side of her head. "Oh, hi Misty," Rui said casually, as did the others but in their own words. "Of course you can sit."

"Thanks," she said bitterly as she took her seat, next to Rui.

"Intros," Zoey said. "Misty, this is Marley. She's new in our class."

"Hi," Misty said to Marley coldly. Still showing a foul mood, Misty let her hand out, offering Marley to shake it. Marley accepted her hand of friendship. The other girls couldn't help but notice.

"What's wrong, Misty?" Rui asked worryingly. "You're not usually like this."

"Nothing much," Misty said coldly. "I just hate it when some guy has to be fed like a baby."

Marley looked over to the other side of the room and saw Ash and Macey sitting next to each other, with Pikachu sitting next to Ash. Macey was trying to feed Ash some of her food but he kept on moving his face away from them. "Please, Macey," Ash said, pleading her to leave him alone but in a polite way. "It's okay. I got my own lunch."

"Oh, come on, Ash! Just one little bite! Just tincy wincy little bite!" Macey cried, trying to feed him some meat using her chopsticks while Pikachu just stared awkwardly.

"(Interesting)," Marley thought to herself before she heard slamming noise on her table. The girls quickly turned towards the person who made such an angry movement.

"Excuse me! Is this the table where the girls get to badmouth boys! Especially Drew!" May snarled. She was the one who made that physical tantrum. "That guy really needs to sort out his ego!"

"Sorry about this, Marley," Rui said nervously, noticing this awkward moment. "They're not usually like this but there are some bad boys around here."

"It's okay, things happen." Marley said being reassuringly. "(And I found their situations quite amusing)."

"Marley… I… I… I…" Wally said with struggle in his voice. "I… I can't do it!"

"Oh, come on, Wally! This is the thirtieth time now!" Barry complained, giving his emerald haired some light punches to the stomach. He had been coaching Wally for sometime now after he theorised that it's better to get things over with than to think about what Marley would feel during the exam. "You got a cute face and a smart brain, which everyone is envious of! And for what!?"

"I… I'm sorry…" Wally said apologetically, feeling guilty for wasting their friends' time.

"Guys, I think it's best that you put your feelings aside, Wally," Brendan said after getting annoyed with Barry's coaching. "At least for the time being until the IQ test is done."

"Never! Everyone must overcome the obstacles that come before them! I shall help Wally with his problems if it's the last thing I do!" Barry shouted with a heroic tone in his voice before he quickly climbed up a tree, much to Wally's and Brendan's puzzlement.

"Now what is he up to?" Brendan asked in annoyance while the hyperactive blond rummaged through the tree branches.

Soon, Barry jumped down to the floor. This time, his hair was covered with green leaves and small brown twigs, trying to look like Wally. A hint of red showed on his face as he clasped his hands in a praying fashion. "Marley…" he said blissfully and lovingly. "I love you."

The faces of his friends' became incredibly red with shock after seeing his new appearance and how he tried to act like Wally should. They both turned around, trying their hardest not to burst out laughing but they had trouble breathing, much to his dejection. "Hey! Why are you laughing for!? I'm trying my hardest here!" Barry shouted.

A few hours later, school was finished for the day. The boys and the girls decided to walk home together. Unbeknownst to Wally and Marley, most of the group saw this as an opportunity for him to get to know her at least. While they walked, they were having some small talks about what's been popular in town and in school recently and such. The only people who spoke to each other were Wally and Marley but one particular decided to change that.

"Ah! I forgot!" Barry yelled in shock. "I gotta go pick something up for my mom! Say, guys, you wanna come!?"

"Barry!" Brendan said in shock annoyance. He was about to say another word but Barry grabbed him and Wes by the collars of their jackets and ran around the nearest corner.

"Hey! Barry! What do you think you're doing!?" Rui yelled angrily as she began chasing after him.

Perplexed looks came onto the faces of Dawn, Zoey, and Wally. Only Marley was the only person who remained calm. "Er… I think Barry's gone crazy again," Dawn said.

"You don't say," Marley replied dully.

"Why don't you two go home?" Zoey said. "Dawn and I will see if we can help, either getting Barry some Prozac or something."

"(What)?" Wally yelped in disbelief. "(Are they trying to…)?"

"Okay. I'm sure Wally will take good care of me," Marley replied with a small reassuring smile, making the emerald haired shy guy cringe.

"Okay, we'll see you guys tomorrow," Dawn said as she and Zoey waved them goodbye, as did Marley and Wally.

"See ya…" Wally said nervously, his face still red since that morning. He turned towards Marley who was showing him a small calm smile.

"So… just us two," Marley said.

"Shall I… walk you home? Is it far?" Wally asked nervously.

While they spoke, their friends were spying on them from around the corner. "Can someone tell me what's going here?" Wes asked, baffled by this whole situation.

"Wally's lovesick!" Rui squealed quietly. "His face has been red all day since he saw Marley this morning."

"Kawaii!" Dawn squealed in delight, also being quiet.

"I see," Wes said. "I was wondering why he was asking me about girls."

"Guys, can you hear anything?" Zoey asked the two other boys, who were trying to hear the two possible lovebirds.

"Yep, a couple of squealing girls and another asking if we can hear anything," Barry replied.

"Ssh! I'm trying to hear them talk," Brendan whispered.

"Your face has been red all day," they heard Marley say. "Are you feeling okay?"

"It's… it's a pretty silly story…" Wally said. "You see, I… I… a… a… atchoo!"

The eyes of the teenage spies widened with shock. "Tell me something, is Wally trying to get out of this with a fake sneeze?" Barry asked.

"It doesn't sound like a fake sneeze," Wes replied before they heard Wally sniffling.

"C'mon, fellas," Brendan said with guilt in his voice after letting out a sigh. "We should get those guys home."

They all decided to take Wally home first because of his fever. After knocking at her door, his mother answered the door, surprised to see her son with his friends. "Oh, dear Wally," she said with concern in her voice. "I knew you'd catch a fever!"

She sent him to bed, telling him that he shouldn't attend school for the next few days. Most of the guests were inside the kitchen, eating some snacks while Mrs. Emerald explained. You see, kids," she said. "Yesterday afternoon, he ran out of erasers so he decided to go to the nearby stationary store to get some. But it was raining when he came out of that place and he didn't bring his umbrella. Knowing my son, he wanted to get his homework done as soon as possible so he decided to run through that dreadful weather. When he got back, he was soaking wet so he had to dry himself up before he went back to do his homework. After he finished his dinner, he quickly went back to do his homework until late at night and I heard him sneeze a couple of times. He woke up late this morning and only had one slice of toast that was placed on the table for breakfast. I didn't get the chance to see if he had a fever or not and I didn't want to cause a disturbance at school."

"Oh, so that explains everything why his face was all red, Mrs. Emerald," Dawn said.

"Please, call me Jane. Knowing my little boy, he takes his schoolwork so seriously," Jane said proudly. "What's making me happier is that he's made some great friends, so great that you brought him when you found out that he has a fever."

"Oh?" the guests asked.

"Why, yes. In his old school days, he didn't have any friends because he's so shy. But now, you kids came into his life. I can't thank you enough for helping my son."

"Aw," the girls' said, feeling how sweet it was for Jane to say those kind words.

Meanwhile, Barry and Brendan were in Wally's room to keep him company. Wally was in bed while they were both seated on their chairs, sitting by Wally's side. "You got a fever, huh?" Brendan said. "No wonder your face was red all day."

"You could've told us, man," Barry said.

"I didn't… cough… I didn't know I have a fever… cough… myself," Wally replied poorly. "I'm just glad I don't have a crush on Marley."

"Well, you do act shy around girls when you first meet them but you get through that over time so that's cleared," Brendan said.

"Wait a minute, if you don't have a crush on Marley then why did you ask Wes about girls?" Barry asked.

"I was… cough… I was curious… cough," Wally said.

"See, Wally's a good guy," Brendan said. "Nothing perverted or flirty about him, unlike some people, so there's no need to interrogate him."

"What's wrong with being like that?" Barry replied dejectedly.

"Guys! We gotta go!" Zoey's voice yelled from the other room.

"C'mon, Barry," Brendan said as he and his blond friend were about to leave the room. "Get well soon, Wally."

"Yeah, what he said," Barry said.

"Wait a minute, guys," Wally said weakly, catching their attention. "When we get homework, let me would you?"

"Sure," Brendan said reassuringly before he and Barry left the room, leaving Wally to rest in his bed.

"A cold!" Barry exclaimed. It was sometime after they left Wally's house. "And after all this time, we thought that he might've have a crush on someone!"

"And who is this someone?" Marley asked, making Barry flinch, much to their friends' annoyance that he would ruin everything.

"Er… I forgot what her name was. Nothing important," Barry said, trying to cover up this secret.

Marley looked away from her friends, looking into the sunset with a smile… and a small blush. "I see," she said.

While they continued walking, Rui looked up at Wes. "Hey, Wes," she said, getting his attention. "Is there any girl you like right now?"

Wes rolled his upwards getting into some deep thought for a long moment or so while Rui waited patiently to hear his calm voice and hopefully a good answer. "No," he answered finally.

Rui looked down to the ground, slightly disappointed yet still hopeful. "I hope you find someone, Wes," she said. "Someone who can take care of you."

"Hmm…"

For the next few days, Wally stayed at home until the fever went away. Each day during his fever days, his friends visited him with homework to deliver. Not only did they keep him company during each visit, they did some revising to do before the IQ test.

When the day came, as much as it was to their displeasure, Wally and his friends were prepared to take the test in their home class. While Miss Whitney handed the test papers out, Wally smiled and held his thumb up to Marley, wishing her good luck, which she returned back.

Even with all the subjects they revised on so far, a lot of the students were having trouble answering their questions. Even Miss Whitney was having trouble answering her paper. She got from her seat and decided to walk around the room, showing the impression that she was inspecting her students. But they knew better, she wasn't checking up on them at all… she was cheating.

When their next home class came, Miss Whitney announced the scores of her students. One by one, each student was called out to collect their paper from her. "Wally," she called out, getting the emerald haired shy guy to get his paper. "Congratulations, you got a perfect score," she announced.

The other students were amazed, considering the fact that it was a hard test. However, Miss Whitney wasn't so thrilled with that result, turning her happy smile into angry frown, glaring daggers at him. "Just because you got a better score than me, don't get cocky, you little runt," she snarled bitterly. Wally let in a small gulp in his throat out of fear after what she said before he returned to his desk. "Next, Benny!" she called out, putting her happy face back on.

When Wally sat back at his desk, he checked out every answer on his paper. Soon, he suddenly sensed someone else giving him a nasty stare. He slowly turned towards the culprit doing that. It was the hyperactive blond, Barry, who had a low score on his IQ test. "You wanna piece of me, you little brat!?" he yelled, much to Brendan's annoyance.  
-----------------  
Next episode:

Barry: It's Chri-i-i-i-i-i-i-s-s-s-s-t-t-m-m-a-a-s-s-s-s-s-s!!

Dawn: Wow. You seem pretty excited.

Brendan: Yep, he's been like that ever since he was a kid.

Barry: Pressies! Pressies! Woo-hoo!

Zoey: Yeah, I can see why. Plans anyone?

Rui: Marley and I opened up a flower club recently.

Marley: You better watch out for Ken if he ever finds out about this.

Rui: Oh yeah.

Dawn: Not to mention Mr. Brawly.

Barry: Now this you gotta see, folks! See ya next time! It's Chri-i-i-i-i-i-i-s-s-s-s-t-t-m-m-a-a-s-s-s-s-s-s!!  
-----------------  
More coming! What'cha think?


	4. Year 1, December

Cue opening song 'Let's Get It Started' by Black Eyed Peas

**Year 1, December **

It was time for the language lesson to begin and Miss Whitney the teacher had an announcement to make. "Good news!" she said cheerfully. "A friend of mine is getting married!" 

Her students were surprised at the news and gave out words of happiness and encouragement.

"That's great news, miss!"

"Congratulations!"

"Additional words of congrats, miss!"

"…That's why we're having a test today!" Miss Whitney said enthusiastically. That brought total displeasure to the students.

"Again!? That's twice in one month!"

"What!? That's not fair!"

"You gotta be kidding me!"

"Additional words of protest, Miss!"

"Shut up!" Miss Whitney snapped sternly. She got a bunch of test papers out of her folder and placed them on her desk, tapping them down until the level of each sheet was even.

"Taking her frustrations out, huh?" whispered one of the students.

"Yep," whispered another. "But what can we do?"

After the test was taken and class was finished, it was time for lunch. Club presidents Marley and Rui opened a flowers club. Their clubroom had a number of flowers, all of them different by colour and appearances. It also had a number of books about them.

Some of their friends from various classes, a few other students they didn't know and a teacher turned up because they were interested in it and other reasons. Some were there to admire the beauty of the flowers, some were using the club for their science projects and other studies, some only turned up for other reasons of which was to Marley's dismay. She saw Ken inside the room, standing next to one of the tables, looking at Rui. She narrowed her eyes towards him while a glint sparkled slightly in one of them. "Excuse me," she said bitterly towards them while everyone was checking out the flowers. "What are you doing here?"

"Er… just checking out the flowers," Ken said.

Marley shook her head, not fooling for that lie. "Don't bother lying to me. I can see that you're after Rui and you're using this club for a reason. You want to show her that you have something in common with, which you don't, and then ask her out, is that true?"

Ken slightly blushed as he turned towards Rui who overheard the whole thing, looking back at him with surprised eyes. "Well, er… I wanted to see if I can, like, y'know, get to know the flowers so that I can have something common with her."

"Is something alright over here?" asked a woman's voice, catching their attention. She had pale skin with brown and long dark green hair that reached down to her lower back.

"Ms. Sabrina," Rui said, feeling awkward of this situation.

"Don't worry, Miss," Marley said, holding her hand up. "I got everything under control. I was about to make a decision whether or not he's allowed to join."

Sabrina looked towards and saw how calm and confident she was by looking at her body language. She checked her watch. "I must go. I'm sure that you'll make a wise, calculating decision," she said as she took her leave.

As soon as she left the room, Marley quickly turned her attention back to Ken. "No," she said.

Ken was shocked by that decision. "What!? That was quick!?" he complained. "Don't I at least get a trial!?"

"Er…" Rui said. "It's fine by me but…"

Marley held her hand up again. "Unlike you and me, he doesn't care about nature or the flowers," she said. "They live and breathe like you and me. He's only here to ask you out as usual. I don't think he got the message ever since he asked you out for the first time."

"Come on! At least give me a chance!" Ken cried, catching everyone's attention. "I won't cause any trouble around here and I'll learn a lot… a few… a couple of things about flowers, I promise!"

Marley smiled at his desire to be part of the flowers club, just to be with Rui. "Okay, I'll set you a test," she said.

"We never done tests before," Rui whispered into her ear.

"First time for everything," she whispered back before talking to Ken again. "Excuse me while I choose two flowers."

She walked over to one of the nearby table picked up two random flowerpot filled plants. One of them was a red flower with black dots in various parts of its petals and some black pollen while the other was a blue violet with yellow pollen.

"One of the flowers I have chosen was planted by me and the other was planted by Rui," she said while everyone observed what was going on. Rui felt uncomfortable of what her friend was doing; yet she didn't bicker a word. "If you can guess which one is Rui's then you can join the club. After all, if you really like her then you should be able to tell which one's which."

"Eh? I never had to do this when I first joined," said one of the club members behind her.

Ignoring the people talking in the background, Ken looked down on the flowers, judging them by their appearance. "(Rui's flower obviously is the better looking one)," he thought to himself when he looked at the blue violet. He lowered his head down towards it and took a big sniff. He felt a huge sensation in his body after that. "Oh, yeah!" he yelled. "That smelt great like some top quality perfume! This one must be Rui's!"

"Aren't you going to try the other one?" Marley asked with narrowed eyes.

"Of course I'm gonna!"

"Er… Marley," Rui said, trying to explain. "I…"

Marley calmly held her hand up, stopping her friend saying another word while Ken took a whiff of the red flower. "Hey, wait a minute! This flower smells just as beautiful! Sure, it's a different but still beautiful!" Ken exclaimed excitedly before he sniffed the red flower again. "I can't tell which is which!" he cried.

He carried on sniffing the flowers, trying to identify which one was Rui's. His face was becoming completely red, his skin was covered in his own sweat, and his mind was racing, all courtesy of the flowers. "Er… Ken?" Rui said nervously, trying to stop him.

"I ca-a-an't…!" Ken screamed before passing out and collapsing to the floor much to the shock of the club members. With a small smirk, Marley picked up the flowers and placed them back on the other table… where it was labelled, 'Do not sniff these flowers'.

"Marley… I know that you know that I don't like the guy. You want to keep him away from me and I appreciate that but you didn't have to go that far," Rui said, scared of Marley's maliciousness towards Ken.

"I was afraid that he may cause a scene in this room or anywhere else," Marley said. "It was obvious that he would go to any length to go dating with you but for the wrong reasons. He was willing to go to that level. So was I."

Marley looked at the motionless Ken lying on his back with concern in her eyes. "So, what can we do with him? I hope he's not…"

"He's only stunned and can't feel a thing but He'll wake up in half-an-hour or so," Marley said simply.

"So, which flower was Rui's?" asked one of the club members.

"Neither, they were both mine," Marley answered, much to the member's surprise.

"Hey hey! Marley! Rui! Everybody!" yelled an enthusiastic and excited voice, catching everyone's attention, apart from Ken who was still unconscious. It was Barry standing by the door. "The New Yorker is opening up a karaoke party next week to celebrate the upcoming holiday season!" he shouted before noticing Ken lying motionlessly on the floor. "Hey, what's he doing there?" he asked in puzzlement.

Suddenly, Kim rushed into the room and saw his taller brother on the floor, much to his annoyance. "That dufus!" he shouted angrily. "He's supposed to be getting some stuff for our homework!"

Half an hour later, as Marley predicted, Ken woke up from his unconsciousness. He found himself sitting on a chair with a blanket over him. He was still in the room where the club was being except no one was here. "Well, that was surreal," he said to himself groggily, remembering the challenge Marley set for him.

"Shoot! I forgot my book!" a girl's voice as she ran back into the room. She saw him sitting in the chair, looking at her. "Oh, hi!" she said.

"Hi," Ken replied casually. "Do you know where the class presidents are?"

"Oh, they just left. They're getting ready for the next lesson. You should get there too."

"I see," Ken said looking down, wondering if he actually got accepted.

"Hey, don't worry about it," the girl said optimistically with a smile. "You don't have to know anything about flowers, even I don't know anything about them. I'm sure they accepted you as a club member. Everyone's welcome."

Ken smiled in response. "Thanks," he said. "What's your name?"

"Sakura. I'll catch you later."

With that, she left the room in a hurry. Ken got up from his seat and placed the blanket on one of the tables before making his exit, where students and teachers made their way to their classrooms. Along the way, she saw Marley placing a poster on a notice board. "Hey, Marley," he said, catching her attention.

"What?" she asked, turning her head towards him.

"I wanna say that there are no hard feelings between us. I appreciate your decisions."

"No problem," Marley replied as she finished placing the poster on the notice board and walked away. Ken took a look at the poster, which he read out, 'The Flower Club. Everyone is welcome but the following people are banned: Ken Invincible and Mr. Brawly'.

After a few seconds of reading that note, he sighed and lowered his head down in shame and defeat.

A week later, during the language lesson, Ms. Whitney had some news to say to her students. "Guess what, I went to the wedding the other day," she said happily.

"Oh crud…" murmured one of the students. "Another sudden test." The others didn't say anything in protest but they had a feeling of what was coming as well.

Miss Whitney let out a small chortle. Then her laughter became bigger and louder, scaring everyone in the room. Soon, she stopped laughing and showed off a small shrug and arrogant smirk. "Idiots are always in a rush," she said smugly. "Remember that, kids."

The kids couldn't help but give her an awkward stare.

A couple of hours later after school, a large number of people came to the New Yorker for the karaoke party. Wes, Rui, Dawn, Zoey, Marley, Wally, Brendan and Barry walked towards their favourite restaurant. "It's all karaoke, baby!" Barry yelled excitedly.

"Yes, you've been saying for the last five minutes, Barry," Brendan said moodily. "And it's not getting me annoyed."

"Karaoke, baby!" Barry yelled at his friend's face.

"Okay, I was wrong," Brendan said getting very annoyed.

Barry tapped his hand on Brendan's stomach; letting out a small laugh in triumph.

"So, Wes," Rui said, looking up to her 'knight in shining armour'. "What kind of music do you like?"

"Well, mainly pop and rock," Wes replied simply. "But there are other songs that I like too."

"Hey, I like pop a lot as well," Rui replied, happy that she and Wes had something in common. "Can you sing?"

"Well… I don't know. I never sang to anyone before."

Upon their entry, they saw a large number of people sitting at different tables and a small stage set up at the corner of the large room with microphones and a TV screen that displays the lyrics to various songs. The people were either having a chat, enjoying their drinks and snacks or enjoy listening to a person singing one of the songs.

Not only that, they saw their other friends and rivals from another class, consisted of Ash, Pikachu, Misty, May, Drew, and Macey. "Hey, guys!" they cried when they saw them coming in. "Come sit with us!"

To Barry's dismay, he saw the Invincible Pokemon Brothers sitting on another table. "Hey!" Barry shouted, pointing towards Kim. "You were banned from this place!"

Kim couldn't help but stand up from his seat and rush towards him, getting up to his face. "Hello, Einstein! I was only banned for a month, remember?" he shouted.

Realisation came into the blond's mind. "Oh yeah," he said dully before getting into his loudmouth attitude again. "I challenge you to a singing contest, pal! We both sing a duet, and people get to choose whose singing is better, got it!?"

"You're on!" Kim shouted.

Brendan sighed in frustration. "Here they go again," he said. "It's going to be a shame knowing those two."

"I'm off to get some drinks," May said as she got off from her seat. "Does anybody want some?"

Every one of her friends ordered their drinks and milkshakes before she made her way to the counter. She was met with wavy purple hair that reached down to his shoulder blades, dressed in a restaurant uniform with a badge marked 'Harley'. "And I thought I was doing something for charity," he muttered before noticing May walking up to him. He quickly put on a happy face. "Why, hello! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you to," she replied politely. "Can I order…"

After she ordered a number of drinks, Harley had a small favour to ask. "Very good, miss," he said. "But before I go, I was wondering if you'd like a slice of my homemade cookies first?" He walked over to one part of the kitchen and a small of them, all of which were shaped like pokemon, back to her. "Bon appetite."

"Sure they look good," May said picking out one of them before she started munching on it, tasting it. She showed a little dissatisfaction towards them after she swallowed it. "It was a little too hard to get your teeth into," she said.

A vain began to throb at the back of Harley's head, despite still showing a calm, happy face. "And they're not the best wheat ones I've ever tasted," she continued.

"(Chocolate)!" he thought angrily. "(How can you not taste the chocolate)!?"

"And I don't think the texture's okay with me," she said, finishing off her opinions.

"I see," Harley said replied happily, despite having some evil thoughts on this girl. "Thanks for the review and I'll keep everything in mind. I'll go and get your drinks."

"Thank you!" May replied happily when Harley turned away.

"(You're not welcome)."

No longer than a couple of minutes later Harley returned, this time with a number of drinks on a tray and still with smile on his face. "Here are your drinks," he said. Have a nice time."

"Thanks, you too," May said as she picked up the drinks before walking, leaving Harley with an evil smirk on his face. As she made her way back, she and everyone else saw Barry and Kim singing and dancing together on stage in the spirit of competition against each other, without looking the screen.

_She'll make you take your clothes off  
And go dancing in the rain  
She'll make you live her crazy life  
But she'll take away you pain  
Like a bullet through your brain _

Upside, inside, out  
She's livin' la vida loca  
She'll push and pull you down  
Livin' la vida loca  
Her lips are devil red  
And her skin's a colour mocha  
She will wear you out  
Livin' la vida loca

She's livin' la vida loca  
Livin' la vida loca  
Livin' la vida loca 

After the song ended, Barry and Kim quickly posed in front of their audience and they applauded, appreciating their performance, although they didn't have the best voices around and that they were slightly out of tune. They quickly rushed to their friends, asking them who was better. Each person said they were equally good but when they asked Kim's brothers, they said that Kim was the better singer, which led to another of Barry's and Kim's quarrel. "Hey! That's not fair!" Barry shouted. "They're only saying that because they're your brothers!"

"Hey! They're the most honest you'll ever meet!" Kim shouted. "They think I'm better than you! Always have been! Always will be!"

"Yeah! Not as the next guy I'm gonna ask!" Barry exclaimed, turning towards his friend. "Hey, Brendan! What do you think?"

Brendan looked blankly at the menu placed on the table. "I'd disqualify you both," he said dully.

Everyone let out a small sigh or moan over Brendan's silly comment over the two rivals' argument while May took a small slurp of her drink with a straw. Suddenly, she felt this hot and spicy feeling on her tongue. Tears started to form in her eyes because of this painful feeling in her mouth as she placed her hands on it and let out a muffled scream by instinct, catching everyone's attention.

"Hot! Hot!" she screamed. "Someone give me something cold!"

"Here!" Drew said quickly as he handed him his milkshake.

May quickly grabbed his drink and drank as much as she could to stop the spiciness that was hurting her tongue. Apparently, she almost drank of his milkshake. She looked around and saw everyone staring in shock. She realised that she had just caused a scene by her screaming and blushed with embarrassment. "Um… sorry," she said sheepishly.

"You okay?" Drew asked, with small hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Hey, what was in that?" Ash asked.

"Something really spicy," May replied panting heavily. "I think it was chilli."

"Chilli, huh?" Barry asked. "Kim! I bet you can't drink this entire cup in one go!"

"I bet you can't either!" Kim shouted back.

"Whatever," Brendan said. "But first, someone ought to complain about the drinks."

Sometime later, while Barry was getting the drinks, which now had two milkshakes for May and Drew, and two chilli sauces for Kim and himself, Zoey was taking her turn singing one of her favourite songs. She was singing it in a voice that everyone enjoyed while looking at the screen that was displaying the words.

_Accidentally,  
I'm in love, I'm in love  
I'm in love, I'm in love  
I'm in love, I'm in love _

Accidentally,  
I'm in love, I'm in love  
I'm in love, I'm in love  
I'm in love, I'm in love

C'mon! C'mon!  
Spin a little tighter!  
C'mon! C'mon!  
And the world's a little brighter!  
C'mon! C'mon!  
Just get yourself inside your love!  
I'm in love 

After the last strum of the guitar, as part of the music background, everyone applauded. Not only for her great singing and but for her guts for standing up on stage as well. She smiled, blushing with embarrassment as she walked off the stage. "You did great out there, Zoey-san!" Dawn cried, standing in front of her. She was the next person to go up on stage.

"You really think so?" Zoey asked stopping in front of her, placing her hand on the back of her head, still blushing with a smile. "Thanks. Knock them out, Dawn."

Dawn ran towards her, holding her hand out. Zoey held her hand out as well and they slapped each other's, resulting this as a high five in friendship and encouragement. But to Dawn, this probably meant to her than that. "(She touched my hand)," she thought happily with bliss.

"Here you go guys," Barry said delivering the drinks. Everyone noticed the black eye on his face.

"Barry? Black eye?" Ash asked.

"Oh, I was smooth talking with this lady under a mistletoe… and then her boyfriend came."

Everyone shook their heads, sighing and moaning in slight disgust over his flirting ways.

"So, Wally," Marley asked. "Are you going to sing anything? Everyone else has."

"Um… I don't listen to music much," Wally confessed before looking through the songbook. "And I don't know much of these songs," he said before putting it away and then pressing the tips of his fingers while blushing. Besides, I… can't sing well… and… now… I'm talking too much."

"My turn is coming up next," Wes said. "You wanna sing a duet?"

Wally looked at Wes in a surprised way. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't want to put you off."

"It's okay. If you want, I'll do most of the singing and when we do the chorus we can sing it together. How about that?"

Wally was still unsure whether to take up on his friend's offer or not. "Well, um…"

"Go for it, Wally!" Barry said encouragingly. "Everyone sang their songs and you have to too! It's the law!"

Wally became startled when Barry said 'Law'. Brendan gave Barry a dull look. "Pay him no attention, Wally," he said. "Of course, you're not going to jail or anything."

"C'mon, Wally!" Rui said excitedly. "I'm sure you and Wes can put a great performance!"

"Yeah! Wally! Wally! Wally!" Barry chanted. Everyone on the same table followed.

Wally blushed deep red while smiling. "Alright! I'll do it!" he cried. "So, Wes, what shall we sing?"

"Hey, blonds!" Kim said, taunting his rival while Wes and Wall choose a song. "You wanna dare me to drink this chilli sauce in one go!?"

"Only if you dare me!" Barry taunted back, beckoning him to do it as they grasped hold of their drinks, while everyone else became scared of might happen next. "On the count of three," he said. "One… two… three!"

They both lifted their drinks up to their mouths and…

"AAAAAAAGGHHHHH!"

Their screams of pain were so loud that people outside the restaurant could hear them.

Back inside, Wes and Wally walked up on stage, grabbing a microphone each as they prepared to sing a song to the crowd. The song started with some slow music in the background with Wes nodding to the tune with a smile while Wally nervously gaped at the audience before looking at the screen that was about to show the lyrics. Soon, Wes started to sing without looking at the screen.

I want love, but it's impossible  
A man like me, so irresponsible  
A man like me is dead in places  
Other men feel liberated

I can't love, shot full of holes  
Don't feel nothin', I just feel cold  
Don't feel nothin', just old scars  
Toughening up around my heart

But I want love, just a different kind…

Wally quickly joined in for the chorus…

I want love, won't break me down  
Won't brick me up, won't fence me in  
I want a love, that don't mean a thing  
That's the love I want, I want love

  
Almost everyone couldn't help but notice the one thing special about one of those two singers as Wes continued on to sing the second verse… 

I want love on my own terms  
After everything I've ever learned  
Me, I carry too much baggage  
Oh, man, I've seen so much traffic

But I want love, just a different kind…

  
Wally quickly joined in again… 

I want love, won't break me down  
Won't brick me up, won't fence me in  
I want a love, that don't mean a thing  
That's the love I want, I want love

  


So bring it on, I've been bruised  
Don't give me love that's clean and smooth  
I'm ready for the rougher stuff  
No sweet romance, I've had enough

As part of the song, the two teens had to stop singing for a moment. Wes kept his focus on the music while enjoy listening to it while Wally couldn't help but notice that most of the female crowd looking at Wes in a lustful way. Soon, it was time for Wes to start singing again and Wally had to follow up with the chorus…

A man like me, so irresponsible  
A man like me is dead in places  
Other men feel liberated

But I want love, just a different kind…

  
Wally quickly sang alongside his friend once again, still had this awkward feeling about the way the girls at his partner… 

I want love, won't break me down  
Won't brick me up, won't fence me in  
I want a love, that don't mean a thing  
That's the love I want, I want love

I want love, just a different kind  
I want love, won't break me down  
Won't brick me up, won't fence me in  
I want a love, that don't mean a thing  
That's the love I want, I want love

When the song came to an end, everyone stood from their seats and excitedly applauded towards the two, mainly Wes for his brilliant singing. "They loved you out here, Wally," Wes said.

"No way!" Wally said in disbelief. "I saw a bunch of girls staring at you."

Suddenly, a lot of the girls began screaming at Wes, much to his shock. "I told ya," Wally said, also in shock.

"I'll give to you!!" one of the girls screamed.

Back at the table where Brendan and the others were, with an exception of Marley, their eyes widened with shock and amazement. She moved her head close to Rui's ear and whispered, "You'd give him some, huh?"

Rui cringed and blushed at the thought while Wally and Wes struggled to get through the crowd, back to their table. "You did great, you guys," May said.

"You were very brave, Wally-kun," Dawn said while Wally let out a sigh of relief. "But you were amazing, Wes-san!"

"Yeah! I thought you sounded like that guy from Pennyback!" Misty complimented.

Wes couldn't help but blush at every positive word they said, trying to say something in return. "It was nothing really," he said coolly, rubbing his head.

"You should become a singer!" Rui said excitedly.

Wes's blush became deeper. "Y… you sure?" he asked.

"Well, whatever you're a great singer or not, you can't beat my Ashy in a singing contest!" Macey beamed as he gave Ash a huge hug.

"Please!" Misty said, shaking her head. "Didn't you listen to him sing 'What I Go To School For'? It was terrible."

"Well, I always said that singing is not my specialty," Ash replied sheepishly.

"Shut it, fishbowl head!" Macey shouted towards Misty. "You have no taste in music!"

"What did you say!?" Misty snarled.

"Guys! Pipe down!" Ash said, trying to calm the girls down.

While they argued, Marley looked at Wally with a small smile while he looked back. "What?" he asked curiously.

"Great job, Wally," she replied giving him a wink. That wink sent an awkward shiver up Wally's spine. His face displayed a fearful look, which made her let out a small giggle.

It was time for one last song and one of the guests sang one of the Christmas classics while everyone danced to the music.

_Are you hanging up a stocking on your wall?  
Are you hoping that the snow will start to fall?  
Do you ride on down the hillside in a buggy you have made?  
When you land upon your head then you've been slayed _

So here it is merry Christmas  
Everybody's having fun  
Look to the future now  
It's only just begun

So here it is merry Christmas  
Everybody's having fun 

"It's Chri-i-i-i-i-i-i-s-s-s-s-t-t-m-m-a-a-s-s-s-s-s-s!!" Barry yelled excitedly, surprising every one of his friends and guests of this karaoke party.

_Look to the future now  
It's only just begun_

It has been a good couple of months since they started their high school years and they still have a lot to learn. For our friends at Goldenrod High, their futures have just begun.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!"

Cue 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' by Cyndi Lauper  
-----------------  
Next episode:

Wes: My name is Wes Colosseum. I'm a student from Goldenrod High but you guys already know that. It's true that I have been retained from last year after I missed out a lot… but there other reasons why. I just hope my friends don't find about this group of people. See you next episode.  
-----------------  
More coming! What'cha think?

Songs/lyrics used for this chapter:  
Livin' La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin  
_Sung by Barry and Kim_

Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows  
_Sung by Zoey_

I Want Love by Elton John  
_Sung by Wes and Wally_

Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade  
_Sung by a random guest_

What I Go To School For by Jonas Brothers  
_Mentioned by Misty_


End file.
